Category Educational and Family Pieces

Symphonic Music

Orchestral Works:
Signs of Life II- for string orchestra
Signs of Life- for string orchestra
Peace Overture- for orchestra
Gabriel– concert overture for orchestra
Don’t Tread on Me– for string orchestra
Mozart Escapes– settings of Mozart for orchestra
Ultra-Americana– two pieces for orchestra
Freedom Fanfare– for orchestra
Revolutionary Action– for orchestra

Concertos:
Voice of the Wood– concerto for cello quartet and orchestra
The Glory and the Grandeur– concerto for percussion trio and orchestra
Harmonic Rhythm– concerto for timpani and orchestra
The Upward Stream– concerto for tenor saxophone and orchestra

Educational & Family Pieces:
The Thrill of the Orchestra– demonstrates the instruments of the orchestra with narration
The Thrill Beyond Words (instrumental)
Playing with Style– demonstration piece for narrator and orchestra
Jack and Jill at Bunker Hill– a story from the founding of the USA for narrator and orchestra
Where’s Red Robin?– story piece with narrator and orchestra

Playing With Style

demonstration piece for orchestra with narration

With wit and fun, this popular “concerto for conductor” uses engaging music and narration to illustrate the conductor’s role and the basics of crescendo, diminuendo, accelerando, ritardando, legato and staccato. This work is also designed to permit narration by the conductor. Playing With Style works naturally on any program dealing with the role of the conductor or the elements of music.

Russell has composed a variety of narrated pieces appropriate for a broad range of ages. These works have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and in Europe and Asia.

Commissioned by a consortium of North Carolina orchestras, this work has been performed by the Rochester Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, and dozens of other orchestras across the country.

Includes Playing With Style and Other Narrated Pieces

duration: 10′

(1991)

2/2/2/2 4/2/3/1
timp. 2 perc. strings narrator (or conductor narration)

A chamber orchestra version (using different score & parts) has instrumentation as follows:

2/2/2/2 2/2/1/1
timp. 1 perc. (or timp./perc. 1 player) strings
narrator (or conductor narration)

Russell Peck, narrator; Greensboro Symphony Orchestra
Stuart Malina, conductor

The Conductor

The Musicians

“Look! no conductor”

Staccato

in Educational and Family Pieces / Orchestral Works / Symphonic Music

Where’s Red Robin

nature story piece for narrator and orchestra

Illustrating a full range of musical emotions, “The Robin” tells a nature story of joy, sadness, humor, mystery, dramatic danger, and a happy ending of springtime return – taking the young listener on a tour of vivid emotional expression in the orchestra to match the moods of its storybook-style poetic narration.

Performed by the Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee Symphonies and many others.

“amusing, wonderfully well-orchestrated . . . received with wild enthusiasm”
Indianapolis News

“instantly effective . . . the Symphony rarely gets more sincere ovations”
New Orleans States Item

duration: 17′, with options for reduced duration

(1995/1973)

3(3rd db. picc.)/3/2+E-flat/2+cbn. 4/3/3/1
timp. 2 perc. piano harp strings narrator

[The orchestra may be reduced by the omission of any or all of the following instruments: fl. II, oboe III, clar. II, cbn., tpt. III. Cues for these instruments are provided in other parts.]

Red Robin’s Song

A Sad Town

Goodbye to Red Robin?

Red Robin Returns!

in Educational and Family Pieces / Orchestral Works

The Thrill Beyond Words

for orchestra

The Thrill Beyond Words is a purely instrumental version of The Thrill of the Orchestra, a pocket-sized (11 minute) concerto for orchestra. It allows one to hear the music of Russell’s best-known piece, and its distinctive showcase of orchestral forces, without narration. The premiere performance was by the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra, conducted by its Music Director Bruce Kiesling. This was part of the 75th anniversary multi-media show honoring the historical Carolina Theatre, which commissioned the work.

duration: 11′

(2002)

3(3rd db. picc.)/2+E.h./2+b.cl./2+cbn. 4/3/3/1
timp. 3 perc. strings
narrator

[The full-size orchestra may be reduced by the omission of any or all of the following instruments: fl. III, E.h., b.cl., cbn., tpt. III, perc. III. Cues for these instruments are provided in other parts.]

Recordings

Performances: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Alfred Savia, conducto

For more information, review comments, etc. about this piece under the ORCHESTRAL WORKS listing, click here.

in Educational and Family Pieces / Orchestral Works / Symphonic Music

The Thrill of the Orchestra

Instrument Demonstration Piece for Narrator and Orchestra

Russell Peck

Living up to its title, The Thrill of the Orchestra colorfully illustrates the instruments and how they are played. Suitable for all audiences, young and adult.

Frequently performed and repeated by many major American and foreign orchestras (Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Montreal, Royal Philharmonic, etc.) and more than 100 regional and other orchestras across the United States, “The Thrill” is a contemporary classic of the educational genre.

Translations available in German, French, and Spanish. “The Thrill” has also been performed in Cantonese, Korean, Hebrew, Portuguese and Japanese.

“always knocks the socks off the audience” Symphony Magazine

“a great advertisement for classical music . . . intersperses music with vivacious narration” Island Packet

“fresh, tuneful . . . rhythmically engaging, deftly orchestrated . . . Peck deserves a special bravo” New Jersey Star-Ledger

duration: 13′

(1985)

3(3rd db. picc.)/2+E.h./2+b.cl./2+cbn. 4/3/3/1
timp. 3 perc. strings
narrator

[The full-size orchestra may be reduced by the omission of any or all of the following instruments: fl. III, E.h., b.cl., cbn., tpt. III, perc. III. Cues for these instruments are provided in other parts

A chamber orchestra version (using different score & parts) has instrumentation as follows: 2/2/2/2 2/2/1/1 (tbn. & tuba are optional)
timp. 1 perc. (or timp./perc. 1 player) strings
narrator

brass section

Intro

Woodwinds and strings

The Thrill

Brass

Finale

in Chamber Music / Educational and Family Pieces / Orchestral Works

Jack and Jill at Bunker Hill

American story piece for narrator and orchestra

Immensely entertaining, “Jack and Jill” combines an action-packed story of American history and idealism with music irresistible to young people. It is especially appropriate for programs on American music, storytelling in music, and family 4th of July concerts. For fun and musical excitement, this piece is hard to beat. It has been performed by the Buffalo, Dallas, and Detroit Symphonies, and many other American orchestras from the Anchorage Symphony to the Florida Philharmonic.

Russell has composed a variety of narrated pieces appropriate for a broad range of ages. These works have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and in Europe and Asia.

“gusto and flair . . . enthusiasm soars at children’s concert”
Grand Rapids Press

“the Milwaukee Symphony soared . . . snippets of blues . . . brass passages reminiscent of Motown . . . all integrated within a more classically derived framework”
Milwaukee Journal

“joy rings out at children’s concert . . . Peck left the stage to cheers of a standing ovation”
New Orleans Time Picayune

duration: 9′

(1997/1976)

3(3rd db. picc.)/2+E.h./2+b.cl./2+cbn. 4/3/3/1
timp. 2 perc. (incl. drumset) harp strings
narrator

[The full-size orchestra may be reduced by the omission of any or all of the following instruments: fl. II, E.h., b.cl., cbn., tpt. III, harp. Cues for these instruments are provided in other parts.]

A chamber orchestra version (using different score & parts) has instrumentation as follows:

1+picc./2/2/2 2/2/1/1 (tuba is optional)
timp. 1 perc. (incl. drum set) opt. harp strings
narrator

Introduction

Battle/Declaration of Independence

Liberty Bell

in Compositions / Educational and Family Pieces / Orchestral Works / Symphonic Music